


The Mouse

by makingitwork



Series: Bughead Prompts [48]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Halloween, Happy Ending, One Shot, bughead - Freeform, greed and charity, human jughead, riverdalevandv, vampire betty, vices and virtues prompt week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 08:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16426157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makingitwork/pseuds/makingitwork
Summary: Tricks involve teeth and Treats involve chocolate.Or is the other way around?A hungry Jughead is lured into the woods on Halloween by a hungry vampire.





	The Mouse

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to the Riverdale Vices and Virtues Halloween Prompt week!
> 
> I hope you
> 
> Enjoy!

 

Jughead's mouth feels thick and cloying with chocolate. He wobbles unsteadily on his feet; his stomach so full he feels like he could just lie down here in the mud and the twigs and sleep for an age. 

It's dark and the moon and is shining brightly through the dark foliage overhead. Slithers of midnight white light flicker through and cast silver fragments onto the ferny ground; lighting the little red packages. Despite his fullness, he reaches forward to pluck another piece of chocolate off the ground. It crinkles loudly as he unwraps it and he almost has to force it past his lips. The cold has made the outside hard, so it  _crunches_ against his teeth in a way that makes him moan before the melted cocoa hits his tongue and he swallows. He's so full now, he has to reach out and lean against a tree. The wet bark seeps in through his costume. 

As he looks deeper into the forest, the trail of chocolates continue. A rainbow path of glittering confectionary that's making his mouth water- and speaking of, he could do with some water. His throat feels clogged and more sugar than flesh. He swallows thickly again, trying to clear his airways a little, before staggering on towards the next piece. Deeper into the forest. 

The night air is cool against his skin and as he stoops to pluck the glittering green piece off the ground, he notices- further in the distance- a chalice. 

It's gold and fancy and embroidered in a bronze that shines in the darkness. He staggers towards it in amazement. It's full of water, or at least something that seems like water. It has an unusual blueish tint but he can't tell whether it's just the eerie lighting. All he knows is that he's never seen anything look as tempting as the contents of the goblet. He grabs the stem and lifts it to his mouth; draining all of its contents. It tastes divine and the second it's empty he wishes there were more. Instead, he settles for licking the inside of the rim, and contemplating the taste. It's like...sugared ice, almost. It's done the trick, and he craves  _more_ chocolate. Luckily, the trail extends far deeper than he can see. Almost all the way into the black horizon of malignant twigs and misshapen branches. 

After moving three more paces, and eating three more pieces, he's pulled out of his sugar-high reverie by the incessant chiming of a very loud ringtone. 

It takes him a second to register the vibrants from his own pockets and he accepts the call in annoyance. "What, Archie?" He snaps. 

There's a pause where Archie is clearly taken aback by the venom in his voice. " _Uh, I was just wondering where you are, dude? Are you okay?"_

He looks around. He has no idea where he is, how he got there, or why. All he knows is he wants more of the chocolate and talking is stopping him from eating. "I'm fine, Archie." He manages, trying to level his voice. "I just decided to take a walk. I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

" _Alright, bro. Happy Halloween."_

Jughead rolls his eyes at the sentiment before shoving the phone back into his jeans and continuing along the path. 

* * *

 

Betty lets out a breath of relief as she watches from the darkness. 

Polly laughs quietly beside her in awe. "I thought for sure that'd snap him out of it. What spell did you put on the chocolate?"

The blonde vampire shakes her head in relief; her smile making her cheeks ache. "I had Sabrina put a lot of different ones on them. Confusion, disorientatedness, hunger, but look at him," her voice breaks off into a sigh, as they examine the lean figure meandering along the path. So alone. So human. Betty lets her eyes drag over his form. It's not often a human will so capture her desire but he has. His long black cloak with a high collar, the painted on fangs, and the slicked back hair. He's beautiful. Of another time. And yet for someone so lean, his greed had been so easy to enhance. He liked to eat. She tempers her desire; mouth salivating as she watches him go. She's hung up on his lips, so soft and malleable, now stained blue from the chalice. 

Polly licks her lips too. "Can I have some?" 

Betty snarls viciously, and Polly whines. "This is my Halloween treat." Betty continues, unrepentant. "He's going to be so sweet. So delicious." She shivers as the thought of it consumes her. It will be orgasmic. The two of them flit alongside him in the shadows as the boy keeps chomping away. Betty's started to reach the end of her tether. She licks her lips again. "Go now, Polly." 

Her sister disappears.

* * *

 

An owl makes a loud cooing sound, and flaps its wings noisily. Jughead jumps and watches as the owl drops something from its talons. It's a little farm mouse. He watches as it recalibrates and instantly runs into the undergrowth. He looks back at the owl who doesn't appear to have noticed. 

He's uncomfortably full now, and though he looks longingly at the seemingly never-ending trail, he's not sure he can go on. 

"Excuse me?" comes a sweet, quiet voice.

He spins around, and his vision blurs ever so slightly. There's a girl dressed as a vampire a few feet away. She's beautiful, with blonde hair and big blue eyes. He smiles at her, before realising he's probably got chocolate smeared over his teeth and mouth. "Hey," he manages, though his voice sounds weary and clumsy to his own ears. 

"---lost," she says, walking closer.

He frowns. He didn't quite catch the beginning. Is she lost? Is she asking if he's lost? _Is_ he lost? He doesn't know, and he sways on his feet. Suddenly she's a lot closer than before and he doesn't feel very well at all. She smiles; sharp and with a few too many teeth and he yelps but it's all delayed and he tries to move back, but she's closer still. "I don't..." he mumbles, trying to get everything straight in his head. He remembers leaving the party, he remembers seeing the chocolate left abandoned on the side of the fence. And then- and then, he's not sure. It's jumbled up in his mind. 

"Don't think too hard," she croons, one hand reaching up to stroke his hair. It should be sweet and endearing but instead he feels like an animal she's trying to soothe before the slaughter. "It'll just confuse you,"

He draws in ragged breaths. The air is moist and cold and his lungs seem to shiver at the delivery. "I don't- are you-" his eyebrows knit together. Something's not right.

Her fingers tighten in his hair though he feels the spike of pain a bit too late, as if it were delayed. Like his nerve endings are on a buffer. She tilts his head down and he's dizzy and staring right at her. She's beautiful. He has the feeling she's going to kiss him, but he sees something in her eyes. Something scary. Some deep, human animal-predator survival instinct warns him. He wants to jerk away but he only manages a slightly tug against her grip. 

His heart skips staccato in his chest. He's going to die. On Halloween. It's...it's perfectly macabre. It's brilliant, really. The weirdo outsider killed on Halloween by something non-human after eating too many sweets. His greed has finally caught up with him, it would appear. Maybe he should have been performing tricks instead of asking for treats all these years. 

The thought makes him laugh. 

The girl pulls back; fond and a little puzzled. "What's so funny?" She croons in a melodic voice, twirling strands of his hair in her fingers. It sends delightful sparks through him.  

He gasps for breath, laughing harder. He can still feel chocolate in the very back of his throat. He can taste something  _blue_ and azure and definitely not water. "Nothing," he gapes with delight, shaking his head at the hilarity of it all. "Just- trick or treat, right?" He guffaws.

Something in her eyes softens, and she strokes her thumb over his lips. The look gives him the sudden feeling that maybe he  _won't_ die. Maybe he can get out of this alive. 

And then all he can see is the girl's blonde hair, and there's a little sting in his neck. Oh. She's a vampire then, he susses. It doesn't hurt. He imagines there were probably quite a few drugs in that chocolate. His head is clearing a little bit, and he feels lax and docile in her grip. He feels like the mouse in the talons of the owl, only he won't escape. The worst or best thing about it, he decides as he's drained, is that it doesn't feel  _bad._ It seems odd, but people always fear death hurting, but this death feels...it feels almost good. The odd sensation in his neck feels different and almost sexual and he's full of chocolate and his brain is floating in a pleasant haze of confusion. 

So he wraps his arms around the vampire, pleased that they exist, and physically embraces death in the way that not everyone gets to do. His arms lock around the small of her back. 

She pulls away, blood smeared across her lips and chin and they meet each other's eyes. There's awe and confusion in hers, and acceptance and giddiness in his. She looks savagely gorgeous, her blue eyes very dark. Her eyes scan his face and she steps away a little. His arms fall to his sides in surprise. "I can't,' she whispers, seeming to realise it as soon as she's said it. She sounds amazed. "I can't do it. I don't know why, but- I can't." 

Jughead shrugs, Now that she's gone his neck hurts, and he wonders how much he's already been drained of. "Go ahead," he encourages; seeing death rolling in on the horizon. "Be greedy. You've earned it." 

She shoves him hard, and he topples back into the grass. "No." She hisses, looking so frightening and blood-crazy over him that he faints. 

* * *

 

When Jughead wakes up on the first of November, it's to Archie laughing at him. 

"I don't know who you hooked up with, bro, but they were  _rough."_ His red-haired friend snorts. 

Jughead sits up, looking around and blinking blearily. He's in Archie's living room, on the sofa and covered in blankets. His muscular friend is currently cleaning the house, presumably because Fred is going to be back this afternoon. He clambers up and pads over to the television, peering at his reflection in the blackness. There's a large purple bruise on his neck. He prods it and pain thrums through him. Archie thinks it's a hickey. Is it a hickey? He frowns, trying to remember. He remembers a beautiful girl and the woods and a lot of chocolate but not much else. His lips look a little discoloured and he wonders if the girl he was with was wearing blue makeup. His head  _aches._ "How drunk was I?" He manages, limping into the kitchen to stick his mouth under the tap. 

He can hear Archie's chuckles from the living room. "You must have been wasted!" He jeers. 

Jughead frowns, wiping his face and coming back to collapse onto the sofa again and wrapping himself up in the blankets. He wants to sleep for an age. 

Archie dumps a bag of chocolate onto his chest and Jughead groans at the weight. "Leftovers from last night, thought you might like them." His friend offers.

The sight of them make Jughead want to retch and he thrusts them away from his body, curling in on himself. "God no. Give them away! Give them all away." 

Archie nods and shrugs like Jughead is being no weirder than normal. "I'll just dump 'em....will you toss it in the trash? I need to find the mop." 

Grumbling to himself, Jughead takes the bag and walks out into the sunshine. He has to step over a lot of bottles and apple cores; weaving through the sea of garbage to get to the front door. It's a warm November morning, and he blinks against the brightness. The ground is warm under his feet and he realises he's only in his underwear. Bashful, he hurries to the trash cans, grateful that there aren't many people out and about yet. He holds the candy as far away from himself as possible, wondering why just the sight of them is making him sick. Is it possible he's finally eaten too many? 

As he pulls open the lid, a voice cuts over him. 

"Oh! Don't throw them away! My nieces love chocolate."

He looks over to see a gorgeous blonde on the other side of the gate. She's so pretty he immediately curls an arm around himself, but she lets her gaze sweep up and down him with a small smile. It makes his skin prickle eagerly. He obligingly hands over the bag. "Very charitable." He agrees. She looks a little bit familiar. Is it possible that she was the one who- no. He's not that lucky. 

Her smile is stunning. "I am very charitable." She agrees, "in fact..." she digs out her phone and hands it to him. "I'll let you give me your number." 

He laughs, ducking his head as he takes it out of her hands. This is the weirdest start to any month he's ever had, and it seems odd that a girl would ask for his number when she can see him with a gigantic hickey on his neck. But he's not about to reject the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. So he types in the digits and hands it back. "Nice to meet you," he mumbles shyly, barely able to keep eye contact. "I'm Jughead."

"Betty," she chirps back happily. "And Happy Halloween," she salutes, winking, and continuing down the street. 

He watches her go, feeling warm and a little eager. He hopes she calls. 

As he walks back into the house, his neck throbs. 

**Author's Note:**

> Halloween has always been my favourite holiday. Costumes and chocolate? It doesn't get much better. 
> 
> Comment, lovelies! 
> 
> x


End file.
